Research is often considered one of the most challenging aspects of blog writing. The intensity and efforts put into research go a long way in deciding the content’s overall quality.
Hence, it is no surprise that writers take up almost 20% to 25% of the time spent in writing compelling and valuable blogs.
Today, we look at the massive importance of research in blog writing. We also cover ‘Answer the Public’ – a valuable information treasure trove that will power up your research process.
So, let’s get started!
What is research in blog writing?
When you sit down to write about a particular topic, you face an interesting dilemma:
- You need to sound like an expert industry authority on the subject
- But you do not have subject matter expertise
As you can see, there is a wide gap between what you know (point b) and what you need to actually write about (point a).
Doing careful research in blog writing will help bridge this gap.
So even if you have elementary knowledge about the topic, you need to do research and uncover authoritative matter / material that will lend depth to the content.
Conducting research allows you to find credible sources, such as high-quality blogs, research papers, or expert opinions. These sources can provide you with accurate and reliable information to support your claims and arguments.
Why is research so crucial for blog writing ?
1 – Accuracy
Research ensures that the information you provide with your blog writing is accurate and up-to-date. With meticulous research, you can verify facts and figures in your content. With such content, you can establish your credibility as a blog writer. In turn, you can rapidly gain your audience’s trust.
2 – Credibility
As a reader, which of the following sources of news and informative articles would you follow?
- CNBC vs. an unknown news article site
- Entrepreneur vs. an untrustworthy general blog site
- Wikipedia vs. an unreliable information source
Chances are that you will select Wikipedia, CNBC, and Entrepreneur websites for your information search needs. These sites have built credibility with painstaking research done to bring a unique perspective on a particular topic.
3 – Relevance
Suppose you run a blog that provides health and wellness tips. You may want to write a blog on the benefits of meditation for stress relief.
Without research, you may only be able to provide a general overview of the topic. Or, at best, you will provide information based on your personal experience.
However, by conducting research, you can add depth and credibility to your blog. And such depth is a proven hallmark of exceptional quality blog writing services.
4 – Originality
It is no fun reading content that has already been rehashed many times by others. You need to publish an inspiring blog that provides insights not yet provided by others. And you can achieve this objective with research.
This enables you to create original content by providing new insights, perspectives, or data. By conducting research, you can avoid repeating what others have already said. Plus, you get to add tremendous value to your content.
This step will take you one step closer towards your goal of achieving conversions via blog marketing.
What is the result of meticulous research?
- Readers get new insights that they have not come across in any other blog
– Blog writing services experts use this aspect to build trust in their minds.
- Readers don’t have to go to other sites to find more information as every bit of information is packed in an in-depth blog.
– This helps time spent on site and brings down the bounce rate.
- Readers enjoy well-researched blogs. Hence you should dedicate sufficient time for research, so that all your blogs are educative and valuable.
– This helps them engage with your website in the future, thus driving up engagement and conversion.
Now that we know what is the result of thorough research in blog writing, let us move ahead.
As a blog writer, you may want to look for a range of topics for a particular industry or for a keyword. How good would it be if you were presented with a list of topics on a single screen?
This is the value proposition of Answer the Public.
Let us examine this interesting website in detail.
What is Answer the Public?
Are you looking for an online tool which is free and can help you in creating useful content? Then Answer the Public is just the tool for your blog writing .
It is going to help you find topics and keywords which can let you stay on top of Google results.
This, in turn, garners more eyeballs for your business and leads to conversions too. This website can help you understand what you need to write about and what topics you can cover.
Click on any result to be directed to Google search page for the same phrase
What does the site look like?
When you access the site, you will see these key points in it.
1 – Interface
The website has a simple, user-friendly interface. You start by typing a keyword related to your topic into the search bar. As a result, the website generates a visual map of related topics and questions.
2 – Visualization
The website presents the results in a visual format. It includes a circular map with related topics and questions, as well as a list of questions arranged in alphabetical order.
3 – Google search redirects
The wheel doesn’t simply have related topics. Try clicking on one of the topics, and you will be redirected to a Google search!
How cool is that?
This way, you can add further substance to your research for a particular topic.
4 – Color coding
There are 3 color indicators next to each suggestion
You can take a call about what type of topic to pick based on these suggestions. It is evident that this step can accelerate the accomplishment of your goals in blog writing .
How to Leverage Answer the Public for Research in Blog Writing ?
To ensure that you get the right results from Answer the Public website, here are some tips that can help you in your research for blog writing :
1 – Know what to ask!
The first thing you need to understand is what your customers are looking out for. When an individual is Googling anything, they tend to ask a question they need answer / information for.
You should know what questions people may have about your business or related field and ensure you cover this. You need to answer the question in the best possible way and provide useful content with your blog writing services.
For example- if you are an apparel company, then you can search on clothes in ‘Answer the Public’. With this query, you will find the common terms people usually search for related to this topic.
This will provide you with a great overview of what people wish to know more about clothing. This is a leading indicator of what topics you need to write on.
As a result, your content is likely to find more eyeballs and better engagement. This happens because you cared to do research to know about the trending topics and wrote blog content around it.
2- Ensure that the question is relevant to your niche
As a business, you need to answer all the questions people have. Doing so helps radiate industry authority as per the E-A-T principles. But for that, you would need to know what are the pertinent questions that they ask.
This is where ‘Answer the Public’ comes in handy.
You get to know
– What questions do your prospective customers ask?
– Sift through those questions depending on whether they are related to your product/service
If the question is relevant to your products, then you can show up in the search results via well-articulated blog content. This action will help you garner more attention to your business.
The SERP ranking boost will also lead to better engagement and lower bounce rates.
3 – Choose the right keywords
Selecting the right keywords is critical to ensuring that you get the right results from Answer the Public. The more specific your keywords are, the more accurate and relevant the results will be. This will also streamline your objectives of research for blog writing.
For example, if you’re writing about “dog training,” you may want to use more specific keywords. They may include “potty training for puppies” or “teaching your dog to sit.”
Take another instance. You may be writing a blog post on “content marketing,”. Here, you can use a more specific keyword, such as “content marketing for startups”. This step can help you identify more relevant questions and topics specifically for new businesses.
You get the flexibility to focus your content on a specific audience, thus, making it more targeted and effective.
4 – Leverage the filters for better research
Use the filters provided on the website to refine your search results and get more effective work done for your blog research. You can filter by country and language. This action can prove to be useful if you are targeting a specific audience.
You can also filter by question type, such as
- “how,”
- “what,” or
- “why.”
Doing so can help you identify the most commonly asked questions related to your topic.
For instance, you may want to write on “healthy eating,”. You can filter by question type “how”. This can help you find questions such as “How to eat healthy on a budget?”.
5 – Analyze the visual map for better blog writing
The visual map provided by Answer the Public is extremely handy. It can provide you with a wealth of information about related topics and questions.
It has the power to help you identify related topics and questions that you may not have considered. Take a closer look at the map and identify the most relevant topics and questions that you can use in your blog post.
For example, let us consider that your topic is “social media marketing.” The visual map may reveal subtopics such as “Instagram marketing” or “Twitter marketing.” Use these specific keywords to create more targeted content.
6 – Broaden your search with Google SERP redirects
When you click on any topic in the answer wheel, you will be redirected to a Google search results page. It has results of the same query that you clicked on in the ‘Answer the Public’ website.
When you do research while developing a blog content , you get added material on trending subtopics within the main topic. And this can help you create a framework for your blog.
7 – Focus on long-tail keywords
Long-tail keywords are more specific and less competitive than broad keywords. So, ‘shoes’ may be a very broad term. But ‘Yeezy Boost size 10 in red and black colour’ is a long tail keyword.
Using such phrases can make it easier to rank for them on search engines. Use the long-tail keywords identified by Answer the Public in your blog post to optimize your content for SEO.
For instance, don’t target a broad keyword like “SEO.” Instead, you can target a long-tail keyword such as “on-page SEO techniques.” This can help you create more targeted content relevant to your audience.
When we implement both common and long-tail keywords, check if the monthly search volume is good enough. Higher numbers will create a buzz with your blog .
You can utilize UberSuggest to know which keywords have a good volume and number of clicks. These related searches can provide insights into what people are searching for and what topics are currently trending.
Take this example of ‘sales software’, which resulted in targeted phrases like:
- Sales management software
- Sales tracking software
The analysis shows that both these keywords have a high volume and a good number of clicks.
Now your blog writing services experts can update the web content, blogs, user guides, and FAQ pages with these phrases for better ranking.
8 – Use the questions as headings
The questions provided by Answer the Public can become headings in your blog . Use the questions as headings and provide answers to them in your blog post.
Doing so has some benefits-
- This can make your content more structured and easier to read.
- It helps you create content that is more engaging and informative.
Let us consider one of the questions as, “What are the best social media marketing tools?”. You can use it as a heading and provide a detailed answer to the question in your blog post.
But make sure to be alert and see that the flow from one subheading to another is smooth. Abrupt or jarring jumps can really annoy readers.
9 – Use the “vs” feature
Answer the Public has a “vs” feature that allows you to compare two topics or ideas. This can help you identify common questions or concerns that people have when deciding between two options.
Let’s say you are writing about “running shoes.” Utilize the “vs” feature to compare “Nike vs Adidas running shoes”. This way, you get to identify questions and concerns that people have when choosing between the two brands.
10 – Make sure your content is optimized for SEO
Are you looking for ways to make SEO-optimized content? Then Answer the Public is a great tool to help you achieve that. Using this tool, you are going to find the relevant topics that you can cover.
You can find out what people are searching for. Your blog content will answer those questions. You can smartly weave in your products and services through these blogs. Content which is useful, informational and answers the most asked questions of the public is always going to help your website up its credibility and reliability.
When you write about things which are relevant and useful, you are going to rank higher on search engines. This will have a positive impact on your overall website.
To sign off
Research is incredibly vital for blog writing. An important part in this phase is to know what topic you need to write on.
Answer the Public is an innovative method to know what questions customers are already asking. It visualizes search questions and Google autocomplete suggestions. This way, it helps with our research for blog writing.
The chronology of this site’s value in blog research is simple:
1 – You get to know what questions your prospective customers are asking
2 – You verify that these questions are relevant to your industry
3 – If yes, you create/update the content to provide answers to these questions
4 – Your site gets maximum visibility on search results
5 – You find it easier to guide the customers towards the end of funnel via successful conversion.
At Textuar, we use this website to get more insights into our content writing strategy. It gives us ideas for our research. This helps us to focus on writing blogs around trending questions and topics. It also helps us find content gaps.
Connect with us to get more insights on our research process in blog writing.
